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MINNEAPOLIS—In the middle of the ninth inning, after he had hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer to give the Blue Jays a 6-4 lead against his former team, Chris Colabello saw Mark Buehrle loosening up to pitch the final frame and was overcome with bromantic appreciation.

“I looked at him and I just told him I loved him,” Colabello said afterward. “Because that’s a pretty epic outing. That’s a character outing. That’s how you hope everyone responds to giving up four in the first — come back and throw a (complete game) and get a win. That’s special stuff. That’s why he’s been doing it as long as he has. Just proud to call him a teammate.”

Down 4-0 in the opening frame, the Jays came back to earn a hard-fought victory over the surging Minnesota Twins Friday night, thanks to a game-winning blast by Colabello, yet another clutch homer by Josh Donaldson and a gritty complete game effort from Buehrle, who looked early on like he might not make it out of the first.

The 36-year-old southpaw allowed hits to five of the Twins’ first six batters as Minnesota took a four-run lead in the opening frame. But then the crafty veteran did what he has done so many times before in his career: settled in and ate innings — all nine of them. Buehrle retired 26 batters in a row after the first, erasing his only two baserunners on a pickoff and double-play.

“Tonight was a masterpiece,” said manager John Gibbons. “I think he gave up one hit after the first. It’s pretty special, but there aren’t many guys who can pull that off.”

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With the Yankees losing to Oakland, the Jays are — unbelievably — just 2.5 games back of first in the AL East, despite still being four games under .500.

Buehrle admitted afterward he was probably one batter away from being yanked in the first inning, which would have been a disaster for the bullpen. “I came up and had a drink and told myself I need to relax,” he said, not divulging the type of beverage he imbibed. “... Obviously when you give up four runs in the first you realize you’ve got to go out there and throw up zeroes as long as you can to give your team a chance to win. We’ve got some guys on this team that can score some runs.”

The Jays lead the majors by far in runs scored and before the game, Twins’ manager — and former Jays’ great — Paul Molitor was asked how he would contain Toronto’s heavy hitters: Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion. Before Molitor could answer, a local reporter jokingly tossed Colabello’s name in the mix. The minor-league journeyman made his big-league debut here for the Twins two years ago. There was snickering in the scrum, but Molitor cut it off.

“Chris is probably as hot as anybody on that team right now.”

Molitor’s remarks proved prescient as it was Colabello who delivered the game-breaking blow, much to the delight of a vocal contingent of Jays’ fans who braved the chilly temperatures and hour-long rain delay along with a segment of the announced crowd of 24,509.

The fact Colabello homered off Twins’ closer Glen Perkins made it all the more impressive. Perkins entered the game a perfect 18-for-18 in save opportunities with a sparkling 1.19 ERA. It was just the second home run he has given up this year.

Colabello, who was signed by the Jays as a minor-league free agent, now has hits in nine straight games and 18 of 23 overall since being called up from Triple-A Buffalo earlier this month. His .379 batting average ranks second best in the American League in May.

“He’s coming up with big hits and shoot, he’s getting two or three hits a game it seems like,” Buehrle said of Colabello. “When he goes 0-fer it almost seems like the world is coming to an end.”

No doubt he has been brutal defensively — playing out of position in the outfield while Jose Bautista nurses his shoulder back to health — and you have to believe he’s due for a regression at the plate sooner or later. But right now Colabello truly is as dangerous as any hitter in the Jays’ lineup not named Josh Donaldson.

Speaking of Donaldson, who leads the American League in extra-base hits this season, this whole hitting-clutch-home-runs thing hasn’t gotten old yet. He tied the game in the fifth inning with a three-run shot, his fifth homer in the last four games, four of which either tied the game or took the lead. Friday also marked the first time in his career he has homered in four straight games.

“I don’t think there’s anybody hotter in the game right now,” said Gibbons.

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